Financial news

In the face of ever-increasing levels of financial fraud, there is an ongoing battle between financial institutions and fraudsters. In Spain, Banco Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank are taking a collaborative approach, as the three entities join forces to exchange important information and data to help prevent financial crime.

Together, Banco Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank have created FrauDfense, a new company that will combine the various anti-fraud initiatives from each of the banks. In a press release, the banks explained that FrauDfense has been presented to the appropriate supervisory and regulatory authorities.

As part of the partnership, the banks also aim to develop a tool to share information on fraudulent practices and effective response measures.

FrauDfense will also welcome banks and companies from other industries interested in exchanging information on fraud to protect customers, entities and broader society. By doing this, it hopes to increase its scope to better its impact in the fight against financial fraud.

Carlos Requena has become FrauDfense’s CEO. Requena boasts over 30 years experience in the banking sector, and was most recently the director of fraud prevention at Santander, before transitioning to the new role.

The board of directors will comprise two representatives of each bank: Carles Solé Pascual, chief information security officer (CISO), Santander España; Daniel Barriuso, group chief transformation officer, Banco Santander; Natalia Ortega, global head of Financial Crime Prevention, BBVA; Sergio Fidalgo, group chief security officer, BBVA; Sofia Karapatsiou, director of Governance and Fraud Control, CaixaBank, and Lorenzo Malo, CISO, CaixaBank. BBVA’s Natalia Ortega will be FrauDfense’s first chair, a role that will rotate every two years between the three member banks.